What a month this has been, every day action , thrill and nothing more u could expect. Every evening v had a treat to enjoy. Every cricket fan would have enjoyed the past 38 days…

IPL 2 Finals:

Royal Challengers Bangalore Vs Deccan Chargers

First a word on both teams, Last year these two teams bagged the position of 7th and 8th respectively. Just a turnaround fortune’s (guess i cant say that) this year as of now they are into finals, eliminating, the top two teams who lead the standings table for most of the times (Delhi and Chennai).

Finally its time for finals, and two captains came together for toss and Kumble won the toss and decided to continue his successful chasing record, Gilly wasn’t worried much abt losing toss, he pointed that he would like to score 160 to 170 to put pressure on the opposition.

Kumble himself started the proceedings for Challengers, and what a way to start, they had Gilly the dangerous man right in the very first over for a duck… Skipper undoing a Skipper… What a way to start the things for RCB, later suman also fell, feeling the pressure… Later Symonds had few shots punching inside and outside the ground, but all those were like daggers in the heart of Rahul dravid, has he dropped a sitter in slips when he was in 5, finally he went on to make 33, but it needed lion hearted kumble to pick the batsmen again, captain leading from the front. at 10 overs timing, they were just 62/3…. RCB felt really good in the score.. Both Gibbs and Rohit began the second off the deccans innings with caution and started milking the singles and doubles by picking the gaps, Finally sharma broke the shatters and slashed one over the ropes, but he was very soon done by the Kumble’s brilliant bowling effort, two balls later venugopal also fell for Jumbo’s magic… On the other hand, Gibbs went slow and steady and scored his 4th IPL 50, a timely knock from the player who opened the innings and stayed till the end… Its always good see any one of the opener fails, other compensating for the loss… Finally few hard running between giibs and Harris allowed DC to reach a par score of 143/6 in 20 overs.

Bowling, RCB bowlers are pretty happy and felt they did the job, and absolutely they have did the job, and its batsmen to get those runs…

Kallis and Manish Pandey started the innings for RCB, Harries started well with a another first over maiden (remember he also a bowled a first over two wicket maiden in semi finals.). Kallis went for few good looking shot, but its purple cap holder, who took the revenge by pitching one shot and Kallis mishitting to stumps. Later Van de merwe, really eased the nerves of RCB as he pulled, drove and took the bowlers to some vicious shots, but not before foxed by Ojha, who also removed Manish pandey cheaply for just 4. by 10 overs time, RCB are 69/3 with dravid and taylor in crease, RCB felt they have a certain chance of winning, even if these two cary for another 5 overs, but it didnt happen, as dravid went for an expensive paddle shot and finally losing the stumps to harmeet singh, But taylor didnt give up as he pulled Ojha for a six and brought the run rate down, but It the over os symonds which changed the whole course of the game, which had a Ross mistiming his pull and very next ball, Virat Kohli losing his balance in crease and Gilly isn’t a person who could miss those… Double strike left RCB speechless and optionless as the runrate was also creeping slowly to 12 and above… Boucher and Praveen fell very soon then but Uthappa and Vinay kumar holded for few mins and gave a hope for RCB that they could make it… But its the purple cap owner, who came to the occasion and bowled a very tidy last over to all DC to win by 6 runs in the END….

Oh man What a finals and What a closing ceremony for IPL 2009, which was really amazing and hats of IPL team who have made all this happen in a short period of time. They made a IPL festival for the past 37 days with 59 breath taking matches…. In simple IPL rocked…

Interesting facts on IPL 2 on Finals:

– 31/2 is the lowest ever score recorded by DEccan’s in their first 6 overs.

– Harmeet singh recorded his best performance today 4-0-23-2

– Gibbs scored his fourth fifty, in his fav ground in SA.

– Among the players who scored 250 runs and above Gilchrist has the highest stirke rate of 152.30.

– With 23 wickets RP Singh holds hard to the purple cap.

– With 572 runs Hayden clear the tournament with Orange cap. (he held this cap for 31 continous days without any other competitors )

– This just the second game in wanders that a team batting first is winning, previous was did by CSK against delhi.

– Kumble joins the list of bowlers who have taken 4 wickets twice in a match along with Yusuf Abdulla of KXIP and Jakathi of CSK.

– With 362 runs, 11 wickets along with an Hat Trick and 5 catches, Rohit Sharma becomes the CITI player of the tournament under 23.

– Deccan’s haven’t lost a single game, which ever Harmeet singh played for them , he played 7 games and deccan’s won all the 7….

– 31/2 is the lowest ever score recorded by Deccan’s in their first 6 overs.

– Harmeet singh recorded his best performance today 4-0-23-2

– Gibbs scored his fourth fifty, in his fav ground in SA.

– Among the players who scored 250 runs and above Gilchrist has the highest strike rate of 152.30.

– With 23 wickets RP Singh holds hard to the purple cap.

– With 572 runs Hayden clear the tournament with Orange cap. (he held this cap for 31 continuous days without any other competitors )

– This just the second game in wanders that a team batting first is winning, previous was did by CSK against delhi.

– Kumble joins the list of bowlers who have taken 4 wickets twice in a match along with Yusuf Abdulla of KXIP and Jakathi of CSK.

– With 362 runs, 11 wickets along with an Hat Trick and 5 catches, Rohit Sharma becomes the CITI player of the tournament under 23.

– Deccan’s haven’t lost a single game, which ever Harmeet singh played for them , he played 7 games and deccan’s won all the 7….

Finally i have uploaded all these 37 days review and most active in my blog, Thanks to IPL for all…

Chennai Super Kings Vs Royal Challengers Bangalore

Two competitive south teams, playing down for finals with another team from south Deccan’s….

Kumble won the toss and decided to chase, since this ground has a very good record in chasing… Chennai came out well with Parthiv and Hayden, scored 61 runs for the first wicket. in this partnership surprisingly, Patel dominated hayden, very soon opener left the job to Raina and Dhoni, Both these batsmen didn’t find their real class act today, just ran away singles and close two’s… Boundaries are very much rare in their partnership. they sticked till 15 overs with just a score around 110. It didn’t kick to a huge total in the end, just finishing up to 146 in 20 overs. Which is a par less score in this ground. Bowling was fantastic, Kumble armoured his men with confidence and made them to feel it… When u look at the economic rate, you ll surely say “All did a brilliant job in a T20 game”.

All came up with the goods, when needed….

Chasing moderately low score in this ground, Kallis and inform Manish started the things in boundaries, But Gony struck with a feature touch nick to keeper of Kallis, which signaled the first blow for RBC, very soon Van de Merwe was gone after a catch was dropped by Murali. Leaving 22/2 in 3 overs. RBC was in a spot of bother to say…. But in came the Indian Wall “Dravid” and Young player Manish who responded well under the gr8 man, Both simply played a stunning and match winning innings for RBC. They played the important part of the game with caution and necessary aggression. Which almost sealed them the finals berth. 72 runs Partnership did the trick for them, Chennai could have snicked a slight hope , when they got Dravid and Manish in quick succession, but Ross and Kohli ensured nothing went away from Bangalore… And finally winning the game by 6 wickets, which is also their sixth win in a row… Gr8 going guys… Winning seventh in a row, will be a dream for them…

Interesting facts on IPL 2 Semi finals 2:

– 59/1 is the highest ever score made by Bangalore in their first 6 overs.

– with 572 runs, Matthew Hayden still leads the top of the runs scoring chart. (hope he stays in top) Followed by DC skipper, Gilly who is trailing by 77 runs.

– Murali finishes the table with the best bowling figure for chennai, who’s economy rate is just 5.22.

– CSK had a record of scoring an average 51 runs in their first 6 overs, which they did today too. Which is also the highest average by any team in IPL.

– Ironically in Johannesberg, team chasing won 5 games and team batting first has won just one game till now including this match.

– Bangalore haven’t lost even a single match in this ground, they have defeated Mumbai, Delhi and now Chennai too…

– out of 5 games, Chennai won 2 and Bangalore won 3 as of now.

– Dhoni didnt hit a single boundary in his 30 ball knock 28.

– 475 runs was scored by Chennai for the first wicket in this season.

– 72 runs between Dravid and Manish Pandey recorded the best 3rd wicket partnership for RBC.

– Both Bangalore and Deccan’s are last year’s 7th and 8th position finishers of IPL 2008… Just see the chance of fortunes, now they are in finals… Cricket is a funny game anything can happen to anyone at anytime… Keep ur eyes open… Next year u can see KKR in finals too…

– Kumble has won 7 games out of 9 as a Captain now…

– 59/1 is the highest ever score made by Bangalore in their first 6 overs.

– With 572 runs, Matthew Hayden still leads the top of the runs scoring chart. (hope he stays in top) Followed by DC skipper, Gilly who is trailing by 77 runs.

– Murali finishes the table with the best bowling figure for Chennai, who’s economy rate is just 5.22.

– CSK had a record of scoring an average 51 runs in their first 6 overs, which they did today too. Which is also the highest average by any team in IPL.

– Ironically in Johannesberg, team chasing won 5 games and team batting first has won just one game till now including this match.

– Bangalore haven’t lost even a single match in this ground, they have defeated Mumbai, Delhi and now Chennai too…

– Out of 5 games, Chennai won 2 and Bangalore won 3 as of now.

– Dhoni didn’t hit a single boundary in his 30 ball knock 28.

– 475 runs was scored by Chennai for the first wicket in this season.

– 72 runs between Dravid and Manish Pandey recorded the best 3rd wicket partnership for RBC.

– Both Bangalore and Deccan’s are last year’s 7th and 8th position finishers of IPL 2008… Just see the chance of fortunes, now they are in finals… Cricket is a funny game anything can happen to anyone at anytime… Keep ur eyes open… Next year u can see KKR in finals too…

Semi Final 1:

Delhi Daredevils Vs Deccan Chargers

Finally its time for Knockout situation, and Do or Die battle for the teams, First up is Delhi a team who are on a roll and won maximum no.of games in this tournament and on the other side, team who made into semi’s with the help of KKR a bit, (KKR defeated RR in a very important last game, which allowed DC to get in), not a gr8 confidence to go into semi’s.

Pitch report said, its a 160-170 track and captain winning the toss will definitely Bat first, But, on the contrary Gilly won the toss and decided to field first (just for ur remembrance, Dc lost lost 3 out of 4 games chasing, except against KKR, which was won by Rohit’s Magic), Really a brave move by Gilly and asked to shewag to take strike… Man O Man, Ryan Harries bowled a fabulous first over,he got rid of both the openers for duck and created a Maiden, a disastrous start for delhi… Not to mention, Gilly and the whole team was in Cloud 9… Then came Skipper Shewag and Dilshan to build the innings, Dilshan had an early reprival of missed run out by Harris. Till the half way mark, both kept the innings going with some scintillating shots on all side of the wickets, esp shewag’s trademark shots are awesome to watch. Delhi were 83/2. Its really a gr8 comeback after a maiden double strike first over.

Once again Strategic break worked on the favor of bowling team as symonds got the prize scalp as Shewag, who needlessly tried to push a middle stump delivery for a single moving way across the stumps and finally giving trouble to umpires fingers. Surprisingly Shewag went without scoring any six today. Once he is gone, Dilshan and Ab de villers were greeted by some really smart bowling by DC, which doesn’t give any room to free their arms… Except these three, no one else crossed double figures which says the rest. Dilshan scored a well made 50 to get Delhi to a defend-able total of 153. Their main prob was, they lost 4 wickets in last 2 overs, which didn’t really help the score to go up… Actually credit to deccans’ who bowled exceptionally well, esp Harris who picked 3 wickets, RP singh had couple in the last over, and others too did a fair job for a T20 game.

A Big Game and a Target is ahead and a must win situation for DC’s. In came the Skipper Gilly with his fellow south african partner Gibbs, First over for Delhi is a disaster, am i repeating again the same sentence, even then i am right yep, Gilly the destroyer, scored 5 consecutive boundaries of Dirk Nannes over to start the innings off to a flyer. Other hand Gibbs, got himself out, with a poor shot selection. But Gilly told, none needed, i ll finish the game guys and oh Boy he did massacre the bowling of delhi, Bowl short, Full, half volley, yorker, slower, and name u know in cricket, he knows just two words, either its Four or Six. Shewag who hasn’t bowled even a single over, went to bowl one and give 25 runs off it… in the Power-play over DC scored 84/1. Gilly scored 70 odd by that time. Finally Delhi had few smiles in the last ball before break , as they took Gilly out for 85 of just 35 balls. But the Damage is already done, Deccans needed just 52 in last 10 overs. Symonds came to the place of Gilly, Inspired by gilly he played his array of shots before getting got at long on for 24. Suman and Rohit played a singles game to win the Semi’s comfortably and go into finals. DC winning the match by 6 wickets and 14 balls to spare. In the presentation Shewag said himself, its a day of gilly, and nothing went on their way… Yep Man , ur rite, Aussies ruled the show…

Bowling, least to write, shud mention two names, Amit Mishra and Dilshan, who did bowl really well for 7 overs between them, kept economic rate below 5.00, which is really a gr8 task , when u have bowled to a most devastating innings played a devastating player. Gilly showed the true class, and said , he as been in the two world cup winning finals before… With this magnificent Knock, he became the second top scorer of the tournament after Hayden. (A gr8 piece of advice to Australia, if u need to win this T20 world cup then here is the pair, which can win the matches with 10 wickets to spare, Serious man… Think Aussies…)

Interesting Facts on Day 35 , IPL 2:

Semi Finals 1:

– Gilchirst recorded the quickest 50 in just 17 balls in IPL. which is also the 5th fastest in T20 games.

– Gilchrist’s strike rate of 294.11 when reached his half century is the highest ever in IPL cricket while scoring a fifty. Previous best was combined held by Yusuf pathan and Brendon McCullum.

– 21 scored in the first over of Deccan’s innings, the second best in the tournament – Rajasthan had scored 22 against KKR.

– Gilchrist scored 70 runs in boundaries which is also the joint highest with Suresh Raina for a single innings in the IPL

– Gibbs scored his 4th duck today which is the most in the tournament by any player.

– With 5 sixes today, gilly has taken his total numbers in IPL to 48. (29 this year and 19 last year)

– This is also the first time Deccan’s have beaten Delhi in a IPL match in both seasons.

– Deccans have scored 2,111 runs in the league stage games, which is the highest in IPL 2.

– Opening pair of Gilly and Gibs have 505 runs in 14 innings, which is also the highest by any pair in IPL.

Its all one man stats seems to be…. sorry nothing i can do abt it… Hail Gilly….

~rams~

Semi Finals 1:

– Gilchirst recorded the quickest 50 in just 17 balls in IPL. which is also the 5th fastest in T20 games.

– Gilchrist’s strike rate of 294.11 when reached his half century is the highest ever in IPL cricket while scoring a fifty. Previous best was combined held by Yusuf pathan and Brendon McCullum.

– 21 scored in the first over of Deccan’s innings, the second best in the tournament – Rajasthan had scored 22 against KKR.

– Gilchrist scored 70 runs in boundaries which is also the joint highest with Suresh Raina for a single innings in the IPL

– Gibbs scored his 4th duck today which is the most in the tournament by any player.

– With 5 sixes today, gilly has taken his total numbers in IPL to 48. (29 this year and 19 last year)

– This is also the first time Deccan’s have beaten Delhi in a IPL match in both seasons.

– Deccans have scored 2,111 runs in the league stage games, which is the highest in IPL 2.

– Opening pair of Gilly and Gibs have 505 runs in 14 innings, which is also the highest by any pair in IPL.

Its all one man stats seems to be…. sorry nothing i can do abt it… Hail Gilly….

Its Day 34 in IPL Season 2… And also the final day for the league stage games…

Match 55:

Delhi Daredevils Vs Mumbai Indians

Not a very important game for both the teams, Delhi will look to have a winning momentum before they get into semi’s. Mumbai will try to have a game for pride before they pack their bags. Shewag won the toss and decided to field first, Mumbai back with the traditional openers, Sanath and Sachin, but it didn’t last long, MI lost wickets in quick successions leaving 28/3 in 4.3 overs. Then Skipper joined with rahane to build the innings and gor MI beond 100 run mark and got himself out, then nothing was so gr8 rest chipped with few numbers to name ending the innings with 165/8. Bowling, Nannes and Sangwan bowled really well to chip up with wickets.

Delhi seemed so cool right from the beginning, No panic at any stage, Back in form Shewag and Gambhir stirred the things up well for delhi and its in the end its a cake walk, In simple, delhi had a nice icing on the cake in the end of league matches. Shewag and Gambhir back in form, bowlers doing a fair job and everything is looking good for Semis 2maro. Bowling, cant really pick much, other than Bhajji who came close twice to pick up a Hat trick, other than that, its all just underwritten…. Finally delhi top the table with 4 wicket victory.

Match 56:

Royal Challengers Bangalore Vs Deccan Chargers

A fairly important game for RCB as they will keep an eye on the Net run rate and Deccans are more comfortable to get in at any cause. Kumble won the important toss and decided to Bat first, Which is right, bcos u never want to have net runrate in mind and u go in for a chase. (finally u may end up exiting like south africa did in T20 world cup). I think RCB have a curse on the no 7, this is 3rd time for them a wicket fell on 7, this time its Kallis, instead of Uthappa… later Van de merwe and Manish Pandey carried the innings well with a reasonable scoring rate. The real show came, when the 19 year boy from Karnataka, went berserk against the bowlers, and went on to score the first T20 century by an Indian, this will be the best feeling for his life time. in the ned, few sixes from Virat Kohli helped RCB to get a score of 170/4 in 20 overs. Bowling, Except Ojha and Symonds, none seems to be impressive, Rp singh purple cap holder, went for plenty today especially in his last over he went for 23 runs, which was the big over of the match.

The equation was If DC wins the match in 11.1 overs, then RCB may lose out in Net run rate and KXIP can sneak in thru.

As always, deccan’s had a good start courtesy Gibbs, he scored at fast pace, and gilly kept knocking the singles around him, finally gilly was out when he tried to pull a slower delivery of akhil, score was 68/1 in 6.5 overs. Things looked good, but RCB ensured they kept hunting down the wickets in the regular intervals, which didn’t allow DC’s for a stable chase, Bowling looked really good, Akhil and Jumbo picked couple each and rest bowled a decent ones to restrict DC’s. In the end, DC failed to reach the target by 12 runs, think back, how costly the last over of DC was…. U cant blame any1 now, finally its a unexpected and resurgent RCB making the way to 3rd place in table and will face Chennai a day after tomorrow in Semi finals 2.

If some one says Low scoring matches in T20 game aren’t interesting, Then ask them to watch today’s Games. Another low scoring day and exciting Cricket action.

Match 53:

Rajasthan Royals Vs Kolkata Knight Riders

A very very important game for Rajasthan, as this win will put them in the semi’s and on the other hand we have wounded Bengal tigers to spoil the party for defending champions. It all started as McCullum won the toss and decided to field first, but he would have felt his decision is bad, as Brad hodge bowled the first over, Naman Ojha took the over for 22 runs which had 3 sixes in it. If McCullum felt bad, then its just for one over, his remaining bowlers came like gold, as they started striking right lengths, wickets kept on felling one by one. None seems to hold the crease more than 15 mins, all kept a very short duration as they were in a hurry to pack up. Not only to blame them KKR bowled and esp fielded brilliantly, they have effected 3 run outs which are really crucial and the one of Yusuf was the turning point of the game. Shane stayed for a while, but couldn’t do much as he perished for 18, which is also the second highest score in the team’s performance. RR scored 101 for 9 in 20 overs. First match for Charl Langeveldt came really good, picked up 3 wickets, it seems all came good for KKR but little more late to act to the opportunities.

Looking down a easy score, McCullum looked so confident as he started the proceeding with a boundary, but tats all the momentum they had, very soon , KKR players too followed the suit of RR, as one after the other kept walking back to pavilion, until the gr8 partnership of 57 came between Laxmi Ratan Shukla and Agarkar was the turning point of the match, as these two batted very sensibly to take the game away from RR. In the end, KKR won the match by 4 wickets, Two persons who took it from the champions are the last two who batted out for KKR. Bowling, ya pretty impressive, they made a game out of 100 runs score and it went to wire till 19.3 overs. Hats off to their efforts. And Shane Warne, We will definitely Miss You…..

Match 54:

Chennai Super Kings Vs Kings XI Punjab

Chennai being sitting pretty in the semi finals spot, they play this game for their momentum to keep going and again the Opponents KXIP, its a must win game, they win they are into semi’s if not, they are out of semi’s. Its Just a DO r Die battle for them, they have been doing well in the past few games to keep their hope alive, lets c , whether they can make it up till the end.

Dhoni won the toss and decide to Bat first (this is 7th time he wins the toss this season), Just to check the bench strength, CSK left out Hayden, Albie, Jakathi and Tyagi, came in Bailey, Gony, Thusara and R.Ashwin as replacements, Dhoni justified the spinner ashwin pick to state KXIP had abt 6 left handers in the squad.

Patel and Bailey walked out and displayed some classy stuffs before bailey ran himself out in the 5th over to yuvi’s accurate throw. Later patel was also out for 32 runs while trying cut one of powar, which disarrayed the stumps instead. The killer blow came when Sreesanth bowled the 10 th over just before the time break, He removed badrinath while trying to hook one over mid wicket, and got rid of Skipper Dhoni of a in swinging ripper. which left CSK 70/4 in 10 overs, later in the second half Punjab did really bowl well, and restricted the scoring rate of Chennai, none looked to get the things going as every one left wondering whats going on. Chennai scored just 46 in the last 10 overs losing 5 more wickets in the course. Bowling was quite impressive from Punjab bowlers as everyone chipped with wickets and also kept their economy rate below 6 an over, which is indeed a excellent job in T20 game.

Any team would have felt really happy to chase 117 in a T20 game, that too when your playing for a semi finals berth, with a good batting line up. Cricket is a game u can’t make any guesses and especially don’t make them on T20 games, many a times u get it wrong for sure. KXIP had a dreadful start as they lost Sunny sohal cheaply for 3 caught on the leg side. Then Katich and Luke Pom got the things down and rotated the strike for another 5 overs calm, but in came the swirling wind from the hands of Murali, which took off the leg stumps of Katich, who moved across to far. Guess not spinner tied the web around KXIP batsmen both Luke Pom and Yuvraj got held into it as they scored just 12 runs in the space of next five overs, which meant that runrate has gone upto 9 an over, no more holding up frustrated yuvi went to cut a shooter from raina and failed to connect the low bounce ending his misery innings of 6 from 18 balls. If this is Yuvi then guess how tough for others, yep, other felt the heat and couldn’t stand for it, kept on walking back soon, and the KXIP hopes had the final nail in coffin as Ashwin held a return catch from Sangakarra. All the other got out when trying to create something out of nothing. Seriously nothing went for KXIP as they planned in batting, failed miserably, which also showed them the exit of IPL 2.

Bowling, Man, what to to tell abt the spin trio, Murali, Ashwin and Raina, they bowled 12 overs and gave just 38 runs and not only that picked up 6 wickets, which really turned the match for Chennai. Murali was exceptionally best who gave just 8 runs, not in a single over, in his all 4 overs and picked two crucial wickets up front. Other than bowling a special credit must be given to Dhoni for his extraordinary captaincy which was also a huge boon for CSK. Remember he won this game with players dusting out the benches and defended a total of 116, which you wouldn’t call it a T20 total. In the end, Chennai won the match comfortable with 24 runs and seal the second spot in IPL season 2. They will expect to face either Deccan’s or Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Standings as on Day 33 in IPL 2:

With an unexpected defeat to Rajasthan Royals pulls them out of Semis and Kings XI defeat gives a bright chance for the top 4 teams looking as such to qualify. Any how net run rate will help both RCB and DC to go through the semi’s. Kings XI punjab will have a 1% hope that RCB is defeated with a margin of 80 to 90 runs, then they may see a chance. But as of now, Top four places seems 99% confirmed, battle for 2maro will be for the places 3rd and 4th. and to decide who will play who.

Interesting Facts on IPL 2 Day 33:

– 57* is the highest 7th wicket partnership in Kingmead and for KKR which is constructed between Agarkar and Shukla.

– Brad Hodge bowled the most expensive first over of the game giving away 22 runs.

– Ravindra Jadeja tops the RR’s scorers Chart with 295 runs. He is also the top scorer to make this runs without even a single 50+ score.

– Shane hit 14 sixes, which is highest by any bowler in this tournament.

– RR equalled the lowest score of 101 in 20 over along with KKR who scored the same against Deccans.

– KKR scored just 38 runs in the first 10 overs, which is the third lowest in this season.

– CSK has a sad record of not winning even a single game in Durban Kingmead, which is been broken today.

– With this win over KXIP, Chennai have won all the 5 games they have played against them.

Match 52:

Royal Challengers Bangalore Vs Delhi Daredevils

It another Must win game for RCB and a game of complacent for Delhi, shud help them to get themselves some practice before semis. Since delhi has the leisure to relax, they dropped Dilshan and got Andrew Mcdonalds in. Shewag won the toss and decided to bat first, But it wasn’t the way he expected, another batting failure from the delhi openers, shewag went for duck and followed first down mithun manhas in the very first over by Praveen kumar. Gambhir looked to get some touch, before he threw himself out to a Kallis delivery of the off stump and lofting an easy catch to Taylor. Then AB and Karthik tried to build up the innings, in the innings break they were 63/3, but again and again, Time break gets a wicket, this time its much needed for RCB, its in form AB was gone. then followed by Mcdonalds, who has no clue for a yorker from Kumble, then it went on, every time when tried to press the run rate, there is a wickets, which pulled them back. in the end, its a par less score of 134/7. Bowling, was very impressive from Praveen Kumar and Kumble, who really gave RCB a huge bonus by picking wickets in rite time, and other bowlers to looked good arud them.

Chasing down a score of 135, RCB failed with the opener, Uthappa, as he was out for 1. then came the two most experienced players in the world cricket together, they played the balls to merit and kept the worst deliveries to visit the fence. RCB really looked good as these two kept on building a slow and steady partnership, but all of a sudden debut bowler Nagar, picked Dravid with the straight forward return catch, a slim hope of ray was seen by Delhi, RCB needing 63 off 51 balls, but taylor was in no mood to provide even the slim ray, as he took the same bowler for 2 maximum consecutively and perished as he tried for the third. But he has certainly mad this chase easier for the rest to come, needing just 34 from 31 balls. Then its South african’s who joined their hand together to see the team home safely. Well made 58 for Kallis and a wicket to his name earned him the Man of the match. Bowling wasn’t so impressive except for Nehra’s effort. same did the fielding of delhi, looked so casual, as they gifted 2 runs easily many a times. May be the complacency got the intoxication more for Delhi, hope it dries soon for them to get in form. In the RCB won the match by 7 wickets with 6 balls to spare.

Standings as on Day 32 in IPL 2:

RCB made sure, Final spot for IPL semis is open till the last ball of the last game….

Interesting Facts on IPL Day 32:

– With 12 sixes, Taylor is the leading Six scorer for RCB.

– This is the third match in a row won by RCB and all are won Chasing.

– Shewag has scored just 109 runs in this tournament, with an average of 13.62, he has also scored his first duck of this season.

– Delhi scored just 2 boundaries in the second half of the Innings after time break. (Period of 10-20 overs)

– Praveen Kumar recored his best bowling figuers today 3/30.

– With 12 sixes, Taylor is the leading Six scorer for RCB.

– This is the third match in a row won by RCB and all are won Chasing.

– Shewag has scored just 109 runs in this tournament, with an average of 13.62, he has also scored his first duck of this season.

– Delhi scored just 2 boundaries in the second half of the Innings after time break. (Period of 10-20 overs)

Match 51:

Chennai Super Kings Vs Kolkata Knight Riders

A game which will help CSK to sit pretty in the semi’s spot, KKR again a game for pride, they game dead close to win the game but lost it in the mortaza’s over. Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat first. This is the first game between KKR and CSK as the previous game was washed out without even a ball being bowled. Surprise, Man with Orange Cap, Hayden was given rest and George Bailey came into action in his place, (guess chennai thought KKR is an easy cake walk). Patel and Bailey had a solid start giving 60 runs in the power play overs. Just when things are looking good for patel, he has gone for a run out, then Bailey followed the same suit. But Raina and Dhoni was in no mood to relax, as they puched the ball with out any mercy, all over the fence, Raina made a effective 52 of 37 balls, before he skied a full toss ball to point fielder. Then after a long time Albie back in form hit some blistering shots, (man he got some power, good to see him back in form) for a cameo of 22*, which is also his best in this season. Bowling, nothing so specific worth mentioning as seen in the below picture. Dinda picked Raina tats all.

A out of form team chasing the highest score in IPL season 2 to win, No one would have dreamt abt it, (guess bet makers wud have made hell lot of money tonight). Yep, All of a sudden a man who is back in form McCullum fired up in cylinders took the attack to Chennai and balls where flying all over the park. no one to put the brake in shoes, on the other end, provided the hope for Chennai to win the match, playing 14 balls and scoring just 4. but Chennai luck ran out as he was out to murali, just clipping the bails. then in came Hodge, man, both know exactly what they have to do, and it did come for them today. Mishits didn’t carry r either went for sixes, all came together for them and another twist when McCullum was bowled(which was confirmed by Third umpire) again a ball clipping the stumps off, just like stumping. But as we know fortune favors the brave, and it did, Saha took the strike without any fear and it came to them, Balaji bowled a worst over giving 19 runs in the 19th over, which signalled curtains for CSK, Raina bowled a super over in the end, but he had just 6 to defend, which was very tough and KKR tasted their first ever Victory in this season (remember last win came off D/L method against KXIP). KKR won the match by 7 wickets…

Bowling only Murali showed his class stuff, just conceding 16 in his 4 overs. Which means KKR scored 173 in 16 overs, if u break down the innings of Dada, it further shortens to 169 in 13.4 overs, which means they scored at the rate of 12.31 to win the match. (169 runs in 82 balls, excluding murali bowling and dada batting)…. Gr8 effort but i think KKR back in form for no use. Hope they maintain till next season to get the roads to their way next year.

Finally good see, McCullum signing the ball once for Vodafone start of the match and smiling in the presentation ceremony. Overall finally a reason for SRK to smile….

Standings as on IPL 2 Day 31:

Chennai eventhough they lost match, as of now, it seem they can certainly make it to semi’s even they lose the match against KXIP.

How its possible:

Can take the worst scenario. Delhi losing both, still in top with 18, which means MI and RCB get 2 points each, CSK losing to KXIP, means KXIP with 16 points qualify for semis, CSK will remain in 15. Rajasthan royals winning against KKR takes them also to 15 points, but as far as the net run rate is concern RR is in negative(-0.36), its not possible to get past Chennai who is well in positive(+0.93), which means they will be still ahead of RR’s. Now coming to last match , RCB Vs DC, both will be in 14 points in this stage, (provided RCB won the match against Delhi) , Who ever wins this match will go to semi’s. Even if the match doesn’t happen both will get 1 point and it will be 15 all, even then, net runrate will take chennai into semi’s.

Think of a scenario, where RR can get in, by pulling RCB and DC. if RCB loses against delhi, they can’t qualify to semi’s, but if they defeat DC, it means both will still in be 14 points, which will allow RR to go to semi’s provided they have beaten KKR.

Real fun comes, when RR loses, KXIP loses, RCB loses against delhi alone and Deccans lose. All KXIP, RCB and DC will be in 14 points, which means as of now, DC and RCB can qualify for semi’s with net runrate.

Man, i guess i have did lots of calculations… Need to give some rest to my mind… Good night folks…

Interesting facts on Day 31 IPL 2:

Hell lot of portions topped for KKR in day 31…

– 189, Highest ever total in IPL 2, its also the highest T20 total in Supersports ground.

– Highest ever successful chase in IPl 2.

– 377 is also the highest total aggregate in IPL 2.

– Brad hodge with 359 runs becomes the top scorer.

– McCullum with 12 sixes took over gayle in the topper list for KKR.

– 90 is the highest 2nd wicket partnership(McCullum and Hodge) for KKR.

– 56* is the highest 4th wicket partnership(Hodge and Saha) for KKR.

– MCCUllum 50 of 21 balls, equalled the record of fastest fifty by Yusuf pathan.

– Albie Morkel scored his best figures 22* for this IPL season.

Hell lot of portions topped for KKR in day 31…

– 189, Highest ever total in IPL 2, its also the highest T20 total in Supersports ground.

– Highest ever successful chase in IPl 2.

– 377 is also the highest total aggregate in IPL 2.

– Brad hodge with 359 runs becomes the top scorer.

– McCullum with 12 sixes took over gayle in the topper list for KKR.

– 90 is the highest 2nd wicket partnership(McCullum and Hodge) for KKR.

– 56* is the highest 4th wicket partnership(Hodge and Saha) for KKR.

– McCullum 50 of 21 balls, equalled the record of fastest fifty by Yusuf pathan.

– Albie Morkel scored his best figures 22* for this IPL season.

– Out of 81 runs McCullum scored 62 runs came of boundaries and sixes, which is the third highest in the tournament, list is topped by Devillers.

Match 49:

Kings XI Punjab Vs Deccan Chargers

Pretty Important game for Both the teams and esp a must win for KXIP. Gilly won the toss and decided to field first, back to pitch within 12 hours of last game, where they won a classical thriller in last over heroic by Rohit Sharma. Start wan’t so gr8 for KXIP before powerplay cud finish three batsmen are back to pavilion and Yuvi stuck there for a while before he was out to a brilliant arm ball by Venugopal. Sangakarra held the innings together for KXIP in the live wire with few others revolving around him and made a well deserved 56 runs. Rest didn’t make much an impression. Bowling was pretty good and RP Singh claimed back the purple cap, its been a heavy Tug of war for Purple cap, But Orange is so Safe with just one man Hayden.

Deccans started of in typical blistering fashion, courtesy Gilly, but couldn’t continue for long as he perished when try to take Powar for a maximum, Suman came back in the very next ball, Then its left to Gibbs and Symonds to steady the things and they did pretty well and things were getting out of the hands of KXIP. All of a sudden Skipper pulled a rabbit out the hat from no where, I mean he picked an Hat Trick man…. Man O Man!!! Believe what a season yuvi is having with the ball this is second Hat trick in this IPL Season. All of a sudden panic in Deccan’s and nothing seems to go their way, and KXIP grabbed the opportunity. But One man didn’t give up for DC’s its rohit sharma, who try to create the magic of last nite again, with few exotic shots and pulled the game back to deccan’s from no where. But all of a sudden he was out when needing 4 to win the last 3 balls, and unfortunately deccan tailenders wasn’t capable enough of doing that. They cud have had a shy chance, when they need four of last ball, they cud have ran 3 to get into a tie (bcos they had the chance, due to brett lee’s misfield), but Ryan harris wasn’t even looking back his partner who almost came to the other end. But Nothing to say now, Its KXIP still Fighting hard for their place with a 1 run victory over deccan’s.

Match 50:

Delhi Daredevils Vs Rajasthan Royals

A very much important game for Royals and formality game for Delhi daredevils. Shewag won the toss and decided to bat first, as usual u see, Royal bowlers chipped in with early wickets, this time munaf doing the double trick on the openers (Shewag and Gambhir) (its been a sorry tournament for the gr8 opening pair of India). then its show of Dilshan and AB de villers, and they did their work brilliantly. Dilshan was kept much quiet by Rajsthan bowlers, by giving him no width to free his arms and swing around. finally he got himself out in 17th over for 33 runs. on the ther end, De villers scored a another half century of this season, and few fireworks from karthik took them to 150 in their 20 overs. Botha and Munaf bowled well to pick the wickets , Munaf was too good just before he bowled that disastrous 25 runs last over.

Looking to chase a score of 151, royals to need to get a good start, but it didn’t happen as both the openers walked back so quickly and Ojha gone as he tried to get some runs, later Jadeja and Botha tried to consolidate the innings but, they weren’t able to accelerate the innings, which proved to lathal in the end, as run rate drept around 10 an over, its always difficult and that too when u lose Yusuf pathan for just 1 run of 5 balls. Its all over for them, Munaf in the end provided few entertaining knocks for a batsmen at no.11. Bowling Nehra was agian too good, man he is gonna be the key watch out for this man. bowled his 3 overs for just 8 and picked up a wicket. Amit mishra picked up 3 crucial wickets too… In the whole Delhi had a good game and royals didn’t. Which means now Rajasthan has to pray god, that luck favors them to make themselves in the Semi finals.

Standings as on Day 30 IPL 2:

Interesting Facts on IPL 2 Day 3o:

– 53 balls was taken in by DC to score a boundary in the middle overs. (period of 6.0 overs to 14.4 overs) which highest ever by DC is the IPL.

– Yuvraj becomes the first player to pick the Hat Trick for the second time in IPL.

– 3/13 is also the best bowling figures of Yuvraj, previous best was 3/22.

– 23* by Munaf patel makes him the highest scorer in the 11th position.

– Rajasthan Royals innings just had one six (Credit: Shane Warne) and interestingly just on whole it had only three sixes. (2 by Delhi Karthik and AB)

– 24/2 is the second lowest score in the first six overs by RR.

– RP Singh became the 67th victim to be out in the 20th over.

– With 19 wickets RP Singh gains the Purple cap back.

– Gilchrist scored his 24th six which also makes him the highest six hitter in IPL 2, followed by a fellow australion his late opening partner Hayden with 21 sixes.

– D.Karthik becomes 2nd player in IPL to effetc four dismissals in an innings, first is Van Wyk of KKR.

– Karthik also joins the top of most dismissals by Wicketkeepers with Gilchrist for the top spot.

– Ab De Villers top the list with most no.of Catches with 12 to his name.

– Both Munaf and Warne have 14 wickets to their name sharing the top position for the top Bowler in Rajasthan royals,

– 53 balls was taken in by DC to score a boundary in the middle overs. (period of 6.0 overs to 14.4 overs) which highest ever by DC is the IPL.

– Yuvraj becomes the first player to pick the Hat Trick for the second time in IPL.

– 3/13 is also the best bowling figures of Yuvraj, previous best was 3/22.

– 23* by Munafpatel makes him the highest scorer in the 11th position.

– Rajasthan Royals innings just had one six (Credit: Shane Warne) and interestingly just on whole it had only three sixes. (2 by Delhi Karthik and AB)

– 24/2 is the second lowest score in the first six overs by RR.

– RP Singh became the 67th victim to be out in the 20th over.

– With 19 wickets RP Singh gains the Purple cap back.

– Gilchrist scored his 24th six which also makes him the highest six hitter in IPL 2, followed by a fellow Australian his late opening partner Hayden with 21 sixes.

– D.Karthik becomes 2nd player in IPL to effetc four dismissals in an innings, first is Van Wyk of KKR.

– Karthik also joins the top of most dismissals by Wicketkeepers with Gilchrist for the top spot.

– Ab De Villers top the list with most no.of Catches with 12 to his name.

– BothMunaf andWarne have 14 wickets to their name sharing the top position for the top Bowler in Rajasthan royals,

Match 47:

Chennai Super Kings Vs Mumbai Indians

A very important game for Mumbai to be in the contention of semi finals spot. Sachin won the toss and decided to bat first, After a failed opening order in the last game, Mumbai switched back to Jayasuriya to the opening slot with bravo. But Bravo didn’t last for long, as ever morkel drew the first blood for chennai. Bur Sanath showed his aggressive intent very clearly, as he went after Tyagi, for couple of sixes. but bowler had the last laugh in the end of the over, as he was dismissed for quick 30. Later Duminy joined Tendulkar to keep the things going for Mumbai, they were 70/2 in 10 overs, But as when they are back from the break, what else u expect a wicket and yes, its Sachin this time. Nayar joined his position with JP Duminy with a 65 run partnership which really gave some respectable score fro Mumbai to bowl at. Nayar was reprieved once by Skipper Dhoni himself when he was in 16, missed a easy stumping chance of Raina. In the end two more wickets fell just to get one more extra run every time. Finally Mumbai Scored 147/5 in their 20 overs.

Bowling was just good for chennai, good job by Raina and Murali, as they kept their economy rate below six and kept the batsmen guessing all the time.

Needing 148 to win, As we have seen 9 times already, Parthiv (who came in place of Murali Vijay) became the 10th victim to be out in the very first ball. Not the start Chennai would like to have… As this happened, v could see hayden has started playing so slow, he waited for the balls to reach him and played pretty ODI natured game. Raina, who came in, just had two sixes so fast and went back soon.. Then badrinath joined him, in first 10 overs, Chennai were 56/2, which means, they needed 92 to win the last 10. Seems , chennai has relaxed a bit lot than expected, As usual another wicket was down after break time and badri walked, and Skipper joined Hayden, after a long period of time hayden started throwing his bat and walked over the pitch, and as did so , he signalled the end for Mumbai. Both Haydos and Dhoni scripted a empathic win over Mumbai, pulling down the screen for Mumbai’s semi’s hope.

Bowling was good enough, but we have to put the blame on the captaincy of Sachin, who bowled Kulkarni’s 4 overs (which wasn’t necessary at all), which was very expensive and allowed hayden to be back in the touch. Few options in choosing the bowling looked so silly and in the end Mumbai paid the price for it. Second consecutive year, Mumbai was out in the league stage.

Match 48:

Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Deccan Chargers

Its a game fro pride for KKR and a must win for DC for semi’s. KKR brought Masrafe mortaza back to squad, played his first game for this IPL season. Gilly won the toss and decided to chase, KKR started off well, McCullum puts a ball out of the ground to start off. But he was out so soon. Ganguly had few good shots but really his watch wasn’t working and he couldn’t time anything coming to him, looked so rusty and failed to connect the ball to its merit, to say he has been a debt for KKR in this innings, he played 41 balls to get his 33 runs. (sorry Dada its a T2o game) In came, Hussey, who showed what the T20 game is and how to play it. Man he was staggering and at his best nick, finally out by run out, it seems thats the only way he could have got out. Good Show from Hussey and Hodge got KKR to 160, which really looked as a good score in this track.

Bowling Ryan Harris , Andrew Symonds and Rohit Sharma had success and bowled pretty decently, but in the depth bowling they faulted and which let the score to move up.

For semi’s Deccans. need to win this game, Gilly and Gibbs went out to make the mark and leave it easy for the players in the end… They did start really well, Gilly fired some superb sixes, which sailed over the fence, but its hussey again who gave the breakthrough and gilly was caught in the deep mid wicket. Then gibbs gone after the break trying to bring down the run rate. By the end of 16 overs, DC needed about 43 runs in 4 overs with 8 wickets in hand, they mortaza took symonds with a gr8 run out of a no ball, and all of a sudden, KKR pumped up and felt tat the can win the game and came so close to a superb win which wud have been their second, Needing 21 to win last over McCullum gave the ball to Mortaza and it didnt start well as he bowled a no ball (since only 3 fielders r inside the circle) and he cudnt held the nerve at the important time and gave away all the runs needed (5+NB, 1, 1, 6, wide, 2, 4) , needing just a single in the last ball… What on the world Mortaza things no one cud know, he bowled a short ball when evry1 is inside the ring saving single, even fine leg is inside, which means even an edge would have got the runs…. Nothing to blame a lot, All to say, KKR doesnt have any Luck to win the game, eventhough u have 99% effort u need that 1% luck to take u thru…. Sorry KKR u didnt have it this time… Its Rohit Sharma the Hero of DC won the game for them with a fabulous game of 32 just of 13 balls… Hats of to him and a deserving MOM.

I have to feel sorry for McCullum, Man, how much this man does, but nothing goes his way or for his team, He was so tensed when the first ball of last over called as No Ball, we cud see the heated argument between him and umpires, which show how badly he wants this game…. May be he shudn’t have chosen Mortaza for last over, any one cud have bowled and things cud have been different. But all lost is lost… Hope Atleast they have a good IPL season 3.

Standings as on IPL Day 29:

Top two teams so comfortable for semi’s berth… rest two places is open for other four to grab….

Interesting Facts on IPL Day 29:

– Both Hayden and Jp Duminy scored the 5th fifty, the highest in this tournament

– Hayden also becomes the first player to cross 500 run mark in this IPL season.

– 26 Extras given by Mumbai is the Highest ever given by any team in this IPL Season.

– Hayden scored his first boundary in 13 over.

– Parthiv patel became the 10th batsmen to be dismissed of the very first ball of the match.

– For both Chennai and Mumbai 10 over 5th ball yielded the wicket, Sachin for Mumbai and Badrinath for Chennai.

– KKR scored 28 runs in the 18th over, which is the best over in IPL this season. (batsmen – Hussey and Saha) (bowler – Rp Singh and Harmeet Singh)

– RP singh became the first bowler of this season to be removed from bowling attack bcos of two waist high no balls.

– Economy-rate of 5.60 by Suresh Raina is the best by a Chennai bowler in this season.

– M.Mortaza Bowled the worst spell of IPL 2, figures read as 4-0-58-0

– 400th six was scored by Sanath Jayasuriya

– Both Hayden and Jp Duminy scored the 5th fifty, the highest in this tournament

– Hayden also becomes the first player to cross 500 run mark in this IPL season.

– 26 Extras given by Mumbai is the Highest ever given by any team in this IPL Season.

– Hayden scored his first boundary in 13 over.

– Parthiv patel became the 10th batsmen to be dismissed of the very first ball of the match.

– For both Chennai and Mumbai 10 over 5th ball yielded the wicket, Sachin for Mumbai and Badrinath for Chennai.

– KKR scored 28 runs in the 18th over, which is the best over in IPL this season. (batsmen – Hussey and Saha) (bowler – Rp Singh and Harmeet Singh)

– RP singh became the first bowler of this season to be removed from bowling attack bcos of two waist high no balls.

– Economy-rate of 5.60 by Suresh Raina is the best by a Chennai bowler in this season.

Match 46:

Kings XI Punjab Vs Delhi Daredevils.

Looking into the game, its a must win for KXIP for the berth in semi’s (Oh man, don’t feel bored i have no other option to write this line again and again) and for Delhi, its game to boost their confidence for their semi finals. Yuvi won the toss and decided to field first, A its really good to see Shewag and Gambhir together swing their arms and entering the field, they did so…. But the party didnt last for long, Lee the show stopper, took shewag with a delivery to the hips on legside and as usual typical shewag chased and produced the nick to get himself out. Later on, a powerful batting line up doesn’t seem to work out their magic, one after the other kept on walking, Gambhir, De Villers, Dilshan…. At the stage of 51/4 Manhas and Karthik clubbed together for a very important 50 run partnership to get past 100 run mark for Delhi. Very soon parade started and batsmen started walking back in a hurry without making any scores.

All due credit goes to KXIP Bowlers, they bowled extremely well with Lee steering the ship from front, Surprised to see Sreesanth back in form, bowled well too… Both him and Pathan picked up couple of wickets. All did a good job to peck back the top team to just 120 runs.

Very soon Delhi said, why they were in the Top of the league, picking up 3 quick wickets up infront. It cud have been easily four, if Gambhir hadn’t dropped Yuvi in the slips and its a sitter. Later on Yuvi and Sangakarra did the repair work for Punjab in a slow pace, didn’t rush much, which kept the run rate creeping slowing, just to bring it down, Yuvi fell to the hands of Shewag, with Sangwan bowling a wide delivery. Pathan joined Sangakarra, and Irfan said, he is the brother of Yusuf, with a Master stroke of 3 sixes in an innings of 21 runs. I would say Irfan has won the game for KXIP, and not Sangakarra. My MOM would be pathan or his 21 runs and 2 wickets. Lucky Sangakarra got it.

Bowling both and Nehra and Maharoof bowled really well, as i was saying to the chennia match, same here, good bowling but not enough runs on the board.

KXIP won the Very important Match by 6 wickets. By which Table looks so closely knitted together, pls get me glasses to see some seperation between them…

Standings as on Day 28:

Interesting IPL facts on DAY 28:

– Ab de Villers scored the 1000th boundary of this season’s IPL, bowler was Sreesanth.

– A Nehra recoreded the best economic figures today of 1.50 (4-1-6-1)

– A.Nehra bowled the 13th Maiden over in IPL season 2.

– For Delhi still Ab de villers is the top scorer with 326 runs, followed by dilshan with 296.

– F.Maharoof became the first bowler of this season to bowl 3 No balls in the same over, where he eventually bowled a 10 ball over, with adding a wide to it.

– Delhi recored their lowest 10 over total (52/4) while batting first, in this IPL season.

– Rajat bhatia became the 32nd man to be out in the very first delivery.

– This is the first time, a delhi innings had just 1 six. (credit to Dinesh Karthik)

~rams~

– Ab de Villers scored the 1000th boundary of this season’s IPL, bowler was Sreesanth.

– A Nehra recoreded the best economic figures today of 1.50 (4-1-6-1)

– A.Nehra bowled the 13th Maiden over in IPL season 2.

– For Delhi still Ab de villers is the top scorer with 326 runs, followed by dilshan with 296.

– F.Maharoof became the first bowler of this season to bowl 3 No balls in the same over, where he eventually bowled a 10 ball over, with adding a wide to it.

– Delhi recored their lowest 10 over total (52/4) while batting first, in this IPL season.

– Rajat bhatia became the 32nd man to be out in the very first delivery.

– This is the first time, a delhi innings had just 1 six. (credit to Dinesh Karthik)